President Joe Biden has repealed sanctions on top officials of the Hague-based court imposed by Donald Trump. The move is in line with bringing the US back into the multilateral fold under the new administation
Apr. 3, 2021
The United States on Friday lifted sanctions on the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor as President Joe Biden seeks to reverse the previous administration’s aggressive moves targeting international institutions.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the decision saying an assessment concluded that the measures adopted by the previous administration “were inappropriate and ineffective.”Why were the sanctions imposed?
The Trump administration had imposed financial sanctions and a US visa ban on the ICC’s Gambian-born chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda last year after she launched an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by American forces in Afghanistan.
The Hague-based court also pressed ahead with an investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories by Israel, a US ally.
Angered by the investigations against the US and its allies, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced the tribunal as a “kangaroo court,” accusing the ICC of infringing on US national sovereignty.
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